Pinning Toe plate

[greymount]

How would I pin a toe plate to the but plate.  This was commonly completed on Ohio half stock rifles that have narrow toe and butt plates.  I just purchased a brass rod.

[PPatch]

Drill and countersink then Peen in that brass, a nail shank or whatever takes your fancy. File.

dp

[smylee grouch]

You might want to consider anneling the brass pin just before you rivvet it into the counter sink.

[FALout]

On hawken rifles, I've seen mentioned of pinned toe plates.  I'm assuming that this was done on the stock and permently attached these items which would prevent any finish work such as bluing or browning of the parts?

[JCKelly]

A lot of Michigan rifles have the toe riveted to the buttplate.
Mostly copper (think #10 electric wire) or soft iron rivets.
Brass rivets usually mean someone has replaced the original rivet.

[bgf]

On hawken rifles, I've seen mentioned of pinned toe plates.  I'm assuming that this was done on the stock and permently attached these items which would prevent any finish work such as bluing or browning of the parts?

You would need to drill and countersink holes, but finish before the rivet was peened down, sort of like the annoying conundrum i always face with iron nosecaps .

[PPatch]

...which would prevent any finish work such as bluing or browning of the parts?

I've browned a toe plate on the rifle before, and a couple of nose caps too. I put some masking tape over the end next to the wood and used an xacto knife to carefully remove unwanted tape then browned away.

dp

[Jerry V Lape]

Having trouble visualizing pinning a toe plate to the buttplate.  I have seen the two plates joined with a sort of tenon formed on toe plate and open bottom mortise on the buttplate. Can you help me out with a photo or reference where I can see this pinning?

[JCKelly]

Reference Michigan Gunsmiths from the 18th through the early 20th Centuries, James Kelly and Dorr N. Wiltse, privately published.

Now that I've got in my commercial, if I can figure out how to use some photo sevice I suppose I could post a picture or two. Not sure that I have any showing exactly what you need. Pin goes from some fraction of an inch from the back end of the toe plate, to near bottom of buttplate. At an angle, you might say.

I still would use soft iron (an annealed nail) or copper, rather than brass. Brass is nice but it shouts out "modern"